Ho Chi Minh City has launched a massive campaign against crime ahead of Tet (the Lunar New Year) and sought assistance from several provinces in the north and south.

Hai Phong and Nam Dinh Provinces and Hanoi in the north along with Long An, Tay Ninh, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau near HCMC will help foil gambling, burglaries, robberies, drug trafficking, and the smuggling in of firecrackers.

The New Year, the country's biggest holiday, which comes in early February this year, is usually a crime-prone period.

Phan Anh Minh, deputy director of the city police, explained at a conference Saturday that many people indulge in thefts during the holiday season just to gamble.

Even murders have occurred as people seek to lay their hands on some extra money to go home for Tet.

The city police said one of the vulnerabilities in fighting crime has been the poor oversight of hotels and guesthouses where criminals hide.

So they will collaborate with the police from the other provinces to keep a close eye on these places.

Efforts will also be stepped up to contain the smuggling of firecrackers and other goods into and out of the city, and the smuggling of stolen motorbikes to Cambodia through Tay Ninh Province.

Vietnam banned the use of firecrackers in 1999 out of safety concerns, but illegal production and smuggling from China, where firecrackers are still legal in some places, have fueled demand of late.